NEW VIRUS ALERT

I would like to bring the following to the attention of all list members: A new virus discovered can, for the first time,infect image files, according
to

Message 1 of 2
, Jun 29, 2002

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I would like to bring the following to the attention of all list members:

A new virus discovered can, for the first time,infect image files, according
to anti-virus software company McAfee Security.
This means that the virus could be spread through Websites, containing
infected image files, and force anti-virus companies to re-engineer their
products,McAfee officials said.The virus, which is being called W32/Perrun
by McAfee, was sent to McAfee by its author, but it is not yet in the wild -
meaning that it is not spreading on the internet.
The virus is built to spread first as an executable, or .exe, file and then
in JPEG image files. If it were to be spread in the wild, the virus would
appear as an executable that would infect JPEGS when it was run. The
executable can be transmitted in standard ways, such as by downloading and
via e-mail. The first JPEG viewed after the executable is run will have the
virus code appended to it, and the virus will then seek out other JPEG files
in the same directory and try to infect them.
The initial version that McAfee has examined does nothing more than try to
infect other JPEG files, but future versions could be modified to include
all manner of code, including Trojan Horses and other programs that could
potentially leave PCs open to attackers, according to the company.
Because JPEGs are a common image format on the Web, the virus poses a risk
of infecting any user that views an infected file on a website, but users
would have to have the executable on their systems for this to occur.

Anne (IUFOPRA Dublin, Ireland).

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